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Schofield a star at both ends of the ground

John TownsendThe West Australian

Tuesday, 26 December 2017 8:27AM

Camera IconWest Perth star Ray SchofieldPicture: WA News

Ray Schofield kicked 10 goals as a 17-year-old in his second league match, landed 261 in total for West Perth but was better known as the best full-back in the country during the peak of his career.

Homer Schofield, as he was known from boyhood until his death this week, aged 92, was one of WA’s most versatile footballers and a star in 277 league and 21 State matches.

Schofield’s battles with South Fremantle champion Bernie Naylor, a match-up they both insisted was squared over a decade, epitomised the rivalry between two great teams during WA football’s golden era in the early 1950s.

West Perth played in 10 consecutive second semifinals, with Schofield winning the club fairest and best award in five of those seasons, but they only won two flags to South’s six.

Schofield was moved to full-back by coach Stan “Pops” Heal in 1948 to allow emerging forward Ray Scott to become the spearhead. It worked for both men with Scott kicking 910 goals for the Cardinals, and earning induction to the Australian football Hall of Fame, while Schofield became the most renowned defender in the land. He was in the goal square in 1948 when WA beat Victoria in three consecutive matches for the only time in interstate history.

“Schofield stands out alone among the post-war full-backs,” WA football legend Jack Sheedy said in 1969.

Camera IconSchofield was one of the best at either end of the ground.Picture: WA News

“I don’t think I have seen a better custodian.”

Schofield formed a fine partnership with back-pocket Wally Price, a relationship that was maintained as recently as this year with the pair regulars at West Perth matches, but they never had a better moment than the 1951 grand final.

West Perth were ahead by just three points late in the match, with South coming hard, but Schofield, by then club captain, and Price stood firm on the goal-line to avert the danger.

“It was like kick-to-kick after school,” Schofield said once. “As soon as we cleared the ball, it came back in.”

Schofield was the unanimous choice as West Perth’s full-back in the club’s team of the century and an inaugural member of the WA football Hall of Fame.